First Time Submissions & The Different Content Types We Accept

How do I sign up as a contributor?I am a new contributor and ready to upload my first images!How do I upload & submit my first batch?What type of content are you looking for?How do I become a video or music contributor?

How do I sign up as a contributor?You can sign up as a Bigstock contributor with basic information for free by clicking the ‘Sign Up’ link in the upper right corner of the Bigstock Home Page. Simply enter your First and Last Name, Email Address, and a Password.

Your “First and Last Name” must be your legal name, as you are the author and owner of copyright of the content you plan to submit. This name will not be visible to customers or other contributors.

The “Email Address” you enter should be for correspondence – it is how we can contact you if there is an issue with your content or commissions.

Choose a “Password” that will be required in order for you to log in to your Bigstock Account.

You will need to read our Contributor Tutorial and complete a short test at the end before you can start uploading images. This will give you a general idea of what types of content that Bigstock will accept into our collection. It will introduce you to basic concepts of successful commercial stock imagery, what is allowed under copyright law and what is not allowed, and the technical quality that will be required.After you finished the Contributor Tutorial, you will also have access to the Upload Area.

Once you go through the Contributors Tutorial, you will be able to enter a “Profile Name” under My Account > Edit Profile section. This is the display name that will accompany your content. As a contributor, we highly recommend that you set this up before you upload your images. This can be your real name or any name you choose, but keep in mind that our customers will see it. * You may change your Profile Name at anytime from the main page under My Account.

I am a new contributor and ready to upload my first images!Select ten of your best images, illustrations or vector files to submit. Your content will be reviewed for technical quality, commercial viability, accurate descriptions, and keywords, and the appropriateness for the Bigstock collection.

The first time a contributor uploads images, there is a limit of 10 images that can be in the review queue. As your Approval Rate increases, you are allowed to upload more images. If your Approval Rate drops the number of images you can upload also drops.

Please know that we apply the same review standards to new contributors that we apply to any other contributors.If your images are not approved on your first submission, don’t despair. Please review the Rejection Reason(s) provided on your images to gain a better understanding of our expectations. You can search for similar images that have been approved on Bigstock so that you can see the type of commercial, high quality content that will get approved.

How do I upload & submit my first batch?There are two options for uploading your content to Bigstock. You can upload via the browser, which is limited to 10 files at a time at a time, or, via FTP which will allow you to upload more images at one time.From the main menu in your Bigstock account, go to Uploads and then the Upload Images tab and click on 'Upload Via Browser' or 'Upload Via FTP' tab. After your upload is completed, go to Edit and Submit Images to add keywords, assign releases, write descriptions, and select categories. When you're done, submit your images to Bigstock for review.

What type of content are you looking for?Whether you are a photo contributor, vector contributor, or JPG illustrations contributor, we welcome the content you create.All content should include these three aspects:Appropriate, interesting and creative subject matter. Submit images that are eye-catching, creative and have broad usage appeal for different regions and marketplaces. The best images often focus on on a single, interesting subject. Consider subjects, concepts or places that are hard to shoot. Avoid submitting shots with parts of the subject unintentionally cut off and consider that customers sometimes prefer images with space for text.

Strong technical quality. The stock photography marketplace demands increasingly better-looking, higher-quality images. Your images should be appealing to the eye and professionally composed, properly exposed, and colorful. Making adjustments in a photo editing program can boost color and adjust light levels and is appropriate, but try not to over-do it.

Compliance with our legal requirements, including copyrights and model and property releases.

How do I become a video or music contributor?Currently we are not accepting video/footage submissions. However, if you have video or a music clip you would like to submit to be licensed as stock, we would recommend checking out our parent company, Shutterstock. They are always accepting new submission applications for Shutterstock.com.